^^^Everyone knows the energy field around the galaxy is generated by Star One to prevent the Andromedans from attacking the Federation, that was, until Travis sold out the Federation and opened a hole in it. Good thing Roj Blake and the Liberator were there. Oh, sorry, wrong galaxy-encasing energy field and Federation.
...Oh, I thought that you meant LEAVING Star Trek ALTOGETHER, (I am getting there. The new movies did NOT interest me, and I refuse to pay CBS to watch that new series. I might watch one of two of the older series, then I am going to call it quits. I have been watching ST for approx. 50 years. I think that is enough.). But, I think that your idea is a good one. a long distance deep space vessel of discovery. (maybe with some sort of new propulsion - maybe reference the Kelvans from TOS ?) Point them away from anything that has already been explored. and send them off (A good cameo role for an aging Picard to see the ship off on it's mission) it would certainly test the iimaginations and writing skills of the staff. They can't just rehash ideas form old episodes (I hope)
That was what Voyager was supposed to do, but they found ways to dredge up stuff from the other shows. The setting of the show actually matters almost not a wit. The writers can choose to meet only new civilizations and new scenarios if they wanted. They just choose not to.
Voyager did that. They just felt they had to create a whole new premise to accomplish it for some reason. Damn, where did I park my Starship?
It occurred to me that the design of a scout ship could be based-very loosely-on the U.S.S. Franklin.
Had to google that, completely forgot about it. Was thinking the Sabre-Class would be a great choice, love that ship.
Yes, there has been a trend towards smaller ships in Trek. This is definitely a change that can work well/
The Nova-class is among my favorite 24th-Century designs, but I've always imagined it as being a science vessel that conducted lengthy (i.e., tedious) follow-up research on new stellar phenomena, new worlds, & civilizations encountered by earlier exploration ships. They kind of go safely where someone else has boldly gone before, IMO--with the exception of the Equinox. VOY showed a possible future featuring an updated version of the Nova-class that seemed more like a light cruiser or a frigate, but who knows if that future will come to pass...
Since Starfleet seems to rely on "biggest is better" it is a bit unusual to see. I love this site but even their "Scout" class page is almost all non-canon material.
The Spirit-Class would be an ideal ship, small and sleek, suitable for a small crew that we can get to know each member of.
I didn't remember Andromeda having crew members, but watched an episode yesterday and there were crew members walking around in the background. Next episode, no one. Weird.